Page 6 of Simply Yours

Ruby gave him a knowing look, one that made him feel as if she could see every thought, every fear rattling inside him. “You’ll be okay. That’s why your daddy asked you to stay and learn the farm—because he knew you could manage it. He knew you wanted to leave, to see the world, but you were the only responsible one out of the five of you.”

Jason swallowed hard. “I don’t think that’s true.”

“But for now, it is.” Ruby tilted her head toward his siblings. “Do you think Toni or Becca could handle this? Do you think a boy like Luke could manage a farm? Do you think Matthew gives two figs about the Baird name or your legacy?” She shook her head. “No, Jason. It falls to you. That’s a burden, I won’t lie to you, but it’s also an honor. Your father knew you’d shoulder it.”

Jason let his gaze drop to the wet ground, his breath ragged, his heart hammering against his ribs. “How?” he whispered. “How am I supposed to do this?”

“One day at a time. One catastrophe at a time.” Ruby smiled faintly, though it was laced with pain. “Focus on what matters, whose britches are on fire first, and deal with it. Each day will pass, and there will be some new mess to fix. Trust me. Guess who gets to have the entire house rewired next week?”

A strangled laugh escaped his throat, jagged and broken. He shook his head, trying to push the joke aside, but the truth of it lodged itself in his chest, making it hard to breathe. How could he even think about something like wiring when everything else was falling apart? He didn’t have the mental space for that right now. He had to keep the ranch running, make sure there was food on the table, and somehow keep the family from falling apart.

But then, something shifted. Something subtle, something that tugged at his very soul.

It was a gaze.

His head snapped up, his heartbeat stuttering in his chest as he scanned the crowd. And there she was—Caitlin.

Matthew’s friend.

Standing like a figure carved out of stone, framed by the backdrop of the gravesite, her eyes locked on his with an intensity that made his breath catch. He could feel it in the pit of his stomach—the way she was looking at him.

Her expression was unreadable, but there was something about it that tugged at him. Was it concern? Or was it admiration? Was it something else entirely? He couldn’t tell, but it made something twist deep inside him.

She was in a military uniform, an unexpected contrast to the somber atmosphere of the gravesite. Her posture was straight and proud, and as much as he tried to deny it, her gaze made him feel like he was worthy. Like there was something about him worth seeing.

No, he thought, shaking his head, a bitter laugh escaping him. Not now. Not when he was holding on by a thread. Not when everything in his world was coming undone.

He tore his eyes away, focusing on Matthew, who stood beside her, blissfully unaware of the turmoil racing through Jason’s veins. Jason tried to bury the flicker of awareness, tried to shove it deep down where it wouldn’t come back to haunt him.

This wasn’t the time forthis. For stolen glances. For whatever it was she thought she saw in him. He had more important things to worry about.

His family.

His legacy.

The weight of his father’slegacythat he was trying to keep from slipping through his fingers. He had to keep the farm together. The bills, the crops, the livestock—every darn thing. And every day that passed, it was becoming harder to hold it all together.

He was so close to breaking, so close to shattering into pieces, and he didn’t know how much longer he could keep going before someone cracked under the pressure.

* * *

Two hours and twelve minutes.

Precisely.

The air was thick with tension as Jason stood before his family, the sound of Toni’s angry voice cutting through the silence like a knife.

“How could you?” she seethed, her hand slamming against his shoulder. “How could you bury him here, under the tree, beside Mama? They should have been buried in town with a big marker with our name. The Baird family is known in these parts, and instead, you had them dig a hole and chucked?—”

“Hang on,” Jason interrupted, his voice tight with frustration, his hand raised to silence her. “Nobody just‘chucked’our father and mother into some unmarked grave.”

“They’ve got markers, Jason. Flat marble markers,” Toni snapped, her voice sharp with disbelief.

“We’ll put a granite cross later,” he said through gritted teeth, his mind a whirlwind of rage and guilt. But the words were hollow, like a weak attempt to justify what he knew wasn’t right.

“I cannot believe you cheaped out on them…” Matthew whispered, his face pale as he glanced at the family with wide, shocked eyes. The silence that followed felt suffocating. Every gaze turned on him, every eye accusing. He was under a magnifying glass, and every movement felt like it was being scrutinized to the smallest detail.

“I did not cheap out,” Jason shot back, his voice cracking with the strain of it all. “And can we not do this at the graveside?Please?!I did the right thing—burying our father beside our mother on the land they loved. Our grandparents are buried here, and someday, I will be too. This was the right thing to do. You want a larger marker, fine. We’ll put one -later.”

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